Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Up from Under {Helping Haiti}

Tonight is the night of the fabulous Up from Under benefit in DC. This amazing charity was started by wedding photographer Nicole Wolf of SOTA Dzine to provide support and housing for people in Haiti still struggling after the terrible earthquake. Nicole has traveled to Haiti numerous time to document the devastation and became so moved by the people she met that she started a non-profit to help build houses for the still-homeless people in Haiti.

Nicole is such an inspiration to us in the wedding industry because she reminds us that there are more important things than finding the perfect linen or worrying about a signature cocktail. Nicole takes beautiful wedding photographs and loves what she does but she keeps it all in perspective. It's easy in a business obsessed with details and "things" to lose focus but we should remember that there are more important things out there.

We are incredibly lucky to be able to plan such opulent weddings. Most of the people on the planet will never attend a wedding like the ones we plan every week. We are lucky. We are blessed. And we are in the position to give back. So as we all go about planning our own, or others', elegant weddings, let's remind ourselves that we are fortunate and share a bit of this fortune with others.

Many of my couples make donations to charities for their weddings, others arrange for flowers to go to hospitals and food to go to shelters. We have a couple who are skipping the usual reception and building a playground with their guests instead. Up from Under is a wonderful charity to support. 100% of the money goes to the people. That's a pretty impressive percentage. So buy a ticket to tonight's benefit, send in a donation, be a part of something really special.